WM_SYSCOMMAND message

05/31/2018

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A window receives this message when the user chooses a command from the Window menu (formerly known as the system or control menu) or when the user chooses the maximize button, minimize button, restore button, or close button.

#define WM_SYSCOMMAND 0x0112

Parameters

wParam

The type of system command requested. This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value

Meaning

SC_CLOSE

0xF060

Closes the window.

SC_CONTEXTHELP

0xF180

Changes the cursor to a question mark with a pointer. If the user then clicks a control in the dialog box, the control receives a WM_HELP message.

SC_DEFAULT

0xF160

Selects the default item; the user double-clicked the window menu.

SC_HOTKEY

0xF150

Activates the window associated with the application-specified hot key. The lParam parameter identifies the window to activate.

SC_HSCROLL

0xF080

Scrolls horizontally.

SCF_ISSECURE

0x00000001

Indicates whether the screen saver is secure.

SC_KEYMENU

0xF100

Retrieves the window menu as a result of a keystroke. For more information, see the Remarks section.

SC_MAXIMIZE

0xF030

Maximizes the window.

SC_MINIMIZE

0xF020

Minimizes the window.

SC_MONITORPOWER

0xF170

Sets the state of the display. This command supports devices that have power-saving features, such as a battery-powered personal computer. The lParam parameter can have the following values:

-1 (the display is powering on)

1 (the display is going to low power)

2 (the display is being shut off)

SC_MOUSEMENU

0xF090

Retrieves the window menu as a result of a mouse click.

SC_MOVE

0xF010

Moves the window.

SC_NEXTWINDOW

0xF040

Moves to the next window.

SC_PREVWINDOW

0xF050

Moves to the previous window.

SC_RESTORE

0xF120

Restores the window to its normal position and size.

SC_SCREENSAVE

0xF140

Executes the screen saver application specified in the [boot] section of the System.ini file.

SC_SIZE

0xF000

Sizes the window.

SC_TASKLIST

0xF130

Activates the Start menu.

SC_VSCROLL

0xF070

Scrolls vertically.

lParam

The low-order word specifies the horizontal position of the cursor, in screen coordinates, if a window menu command is chosen with the mouse. Otherwise, this parameter is not used.

The high-order word specifies the vertical position of the cursor, in screen coordinates, if a window menu command is chosen with the mouse. This parameter is 1 if the command is chosen using a system accelerator, or zero if using a mnemonic.

Return value

An application should return zero if it processes this message.

Remarks

To obtain the position coordinates in screen coordinates, use the following code:

The DefWindowProc function carries out the window menu request for the predefined actions specified in the previous table.

In WM_SYSCOMMAND messages, the four low-order bits of the wParam parameter are used internally by the system. To obtain the correct result when testing the value of wParam, an application must combine the value 0xFFF0 with the wParam value by using the bitwise AND operator.

An application can carry out any system command at any time by passing a WM_SYSCOMMAND message to DefWindowProc. Any WM_SYSCOMMAND messages not handled by the application must be passed to DefWindowProc. Any command values added by an application must be processed by the application and cannot be passed to DefWindowProc.

If password protection is enabled by policy, the screen saver is started regardless of what an application does with the SC_SCREENSAVE notification even if fails to pass it to DefWindowProc.

Accelerator keys that are defined to choose items from the window menu are translated into WM_SYSCOMMAND messages; all other accelerator keystrokes are translated into WM_COMMAND messages.

If the wParam is SC_KEYMENU, lParam contains the character code of the key that is used with the ALT key to display the popup menu. For example, pressing ALT+F to display the File popup will cause a WM_SYSCOMMAND with wParam equal to SC_KEYMENU and lParam equal to 'f'.